Territorial A-Z

Letter, O. E. L[earnard] to My Dear Parents and SisterAuthors:Learnard, Oscar E.Date: April 6, 1856In this, his first extant letter from Kansas Territory, Oscar Learnard wrote his parents and sister in Vermont that Lawrence was now his "distant and strangely romantic retreat." This letter recorded Learnard's early impressions of "unfortunate abused Kansas." The situation was bad, but the reality of "Kansas affairs" was being distorted in the Eastern press. Learnard made reference to the bogus laws, the Free State movement, and the anticipated congressional investigation.